Heartworm: Are you worried about it?

THE BREGMAN VETERINARY GROUP 

www.BregmanVetGroup.com

All dog owners worry about the health of their canine friend. Heartworms can be a dangerous disease they can catch. Heartworm can be transmitted from mosquitoes to dogs when the infected mosquito bites your dog and the heartworm larvae enters their body. Over time, the larvae mature and travel to the heart and lungs, where it can potentially lead to death.

With ProHeart 6, pet owners should have nothing to worry about.

A single injection by your veterinarian is all you need to protect your dog for six continuous months. This medication is proven safe in dos or varying sizes and breeds.

ProHeart 6 should be used, with caution, in dogs with pre-existing allergic disease, including previous vaccine reactions, food allergy, atopy, and flea allergy dermatitis. Dogs should be tested for heartworm disease prior to being treated with ProHeart 6. If your dog tests positive for adult heartworms, your veterinarian should treat the infection with the appropriate medication before administering ProHeart 6.

There are some possible side effects to using this medication. They range from lethargy, seizures, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, pale/bleeding gums, and in some cases, may cause death. There could also be severe allergic reactions that could occur, like facial swelling, itching, difficulty breathing and possibly your dog collapsing. Be sure to keep a close eye on them for 24 hours after they have received this medication because any of the above mentioned signs could show that your dog is having a severe allergic reaction.

If you have any questions regarding this medication and want to get your dog checked for heartworm disease, please give us a call at one of our Bregman Vet Hospitals so we can see your pet right away and give them a thorough check up.

Mistyhollow Motel - a Place for Pampered Pets in NJ

THE BREGMAN VETERINARY GROUP 

www.BregmanVetGroup.com

Mistyhollow Motel for Pampered Pets owner Vene Snyder has her own business, and it’s very unique. Being a pet owner herself, she has operated this motel for more than 30 years.

Starting in 1978, she considered this a hobby or something to do in her spare time. She would take in stray cats and dogs and the her facility constructed with the animals’ best interests: a breezy, tree-covered lot with a path through the woods for taking walks, three fenced-in play areas and 26 indoor-outdoor runs for dogs, each with a sleeping area and a private run. There are also separate facilities and play areas for cats (http://goo.gl/OOMnt).

Mistyhollow offers a number of different services, which includes grooming and bathing, day care and boarding for all breeds of dogs and cats. She has three members on her staff that assist her on a daily basis.

Being just outside of Newark, NJ, she believes it’s an ideal facility for pets because it’s quiet and a perfect place for dogs and cats to get out there, play and run around.

If you have any questions or concerns about boarding your pet, call us at one of the Bregman Vet Hospitals and we can discuss any issues you may have.

Lazy Pets Are Putting on Weight

THE BREGMAN VETERINARY GROUP 

www.BregmanVetGroup.com

Some pets that you see lying around the house all day are very overweight and are eating too much food with no enough exercise. More than one in seven cats and dogs in the state of Ohio are obese or overweight, according to a new report.

 Pets that pack on the pounds are more likely to develop debilitating medical conditions that can reduce their quality of life and result in hefty veterinarian bills for owners (http://goo.gl/T0IhD).

According to experts on this issue, pet owners should learn to recognize the signs of animal obesity and help their pets get healthier through better eating habits and a lot more exercise.

Some owners gave their pets table scraps and without the proper exercise, the pounds can really add up. Pets that are obese have a greater chance of having arthritis, kidney disease and cancer, and these diseases can significantly shorten their life span.

Frequent trips to the vet, although checkups are always a mainstay, can become more costly if your pet is overweight as testing needs to be done, and that can really put a dent in your wallet. Pet prescriptions can also become very pricey, over a period of time.

Take your pet for a walk every day when you get home from work, or once you wake up in the morning. Not only will it benefit your pet, but it will also benefit you as well.

If you feel that your pet is too overweight or obese and need to see a doctor, call us at one of our Bregman Vet Hospitals and we can schedule an appointment to see your pet.

Pet ID Tags Get Great New Look

THE BREGMAN VETERINARY GROUP 

www.BregmanVetGroup.com

How many times have you had that feeling where you are calling your dog to come in from being outside and you get a little worried? You go outside to look for them and you notice that the backyard gate is slightly open and your pooch is strolling around the neighborhood. If that happens way too often, it’s time to invest in something that can help you find your pet quickly.

Issaquah-based company PetHub has produced link tags that include a QR code – the barcode-like symbol that can be scanned with a smartphone to load a website – and an address for an individualized web page, which the owner can update as needed. It’s like a Facebook profile for your pet, says PetHub founder Tom Arnold, a place to store and share information about an animal (http://goo.gl/f9dqj).

When PetHub won the Dog Fancy Magazine Editor’s Choice Award last December, it helped get their product out to the public. In the first three months of 2012, the company sold about 30,000 tags. The main purpose of these tags is to contact the owner if someone finds their pet, and to find out if the pet needs any specific medications. 

Starting today, these tags will have a hotline number to call where operators can help connect the person who found the stray dog to the owners. Although the tags that were sold before today’s date don’t have the number listed, the websites do.

If you have any questions about tracking devices for your pets, you can give us a call at one of our pet hospitals and we can assist you in any way possible.

When Pets Gain Weight, Chronic Disease Grows

THE BREGMAN VETERINARY GROUP 

www.BregmanVetGroup.com

Chronic disease is on the rise in cats and dogs, but owners are hesitant to visit the veterinarian to treat existing conditions, according to the State of Pet Health 2012 Report, published by the Banfield Pet Hospital (http://goo.gl/ERFXN).

In the five-year span from 2007 to 2011, dogs weight increased 37 percent and obese cat cases increased by 90 percent. In 2011, one out of every five cats and dogs were classified as obese or overweight.

Other chronic diseases were also diagnosed in both cats and dogs, including a high percentage having arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease and hypothyroidism. 

When it comes to kidney disease, if cats are diagnosed in the early stages, they live about two to three more years. Failure to diagnose this disease right away could give cats about six months to live.

“The key to successful early disease diagnosis involves a partnership between pet owners and their veterinarian to identify changes in a pet’s overall health and behavior,” said Jeffrey Kausner, DVM, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Banfield. “In partnership with pet owners, we hope to reduce the number of pets living with undiagnosed or unmanaged chronic diseases.”

If you have a pet that has gained a lot of weight, please come see us at one of our Bregman Vet Hospitals so we can make sure your pet is healthy and stays healthy.